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Deputy leaders go head-to-head in fiery debate for week two of the election campaign

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Labor’s Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek have faced off on a number of issues including asylum seekers and the dairy industry on the TODAY Show this morning, ahead of week two of the election campaign.

Ms Plibersek said Labor will “absolutely not” soften its stance on asylum seekers, despite a number of Labor candidates speaking out against the current policy.

“They’re actually publicly opposed to the government’s policy which is indefinite detention on Manus Island and Nauru,” she said. “Our policy is to make sure we stop the boats, but that we are compassionate and bring some of those 61 million displaced people around the world here safely, not by boat.”

Mr Joyce responded by challenging Ms Plibersek’s own stance.

“We know the position Bill Shorten is annunciating is not your position Tanya, and it better not be your position if you’re going to stand in the seat against the Greens,” he said. “You know that, everybody knows that.”

The comments come after opposition leader Bill Shorten was publicly heckled during a rally yesterday, by a man asking how “hurting refugees” would win an election.

The debate took a turn towards the dairy industry, which has gone into dispute with dairy exporters Fonterra and Murray Goulburn over cuts to milk prices paid to farmers.

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“I’ve already made sure farm household allowance is more available so mum and dads can get up to $1000 a fortnight to get food on the table… and we’ve also made recommendations to the ACCC to have this investigated,” Mr Joyce said.

Ms Plibersek hit back at the current measures, arguing the thousands of farmers affected need more support than they are being offered.

“At the very least, farmers should be getting the support of their government for financial counselling services and mental health services if they require it,” she said.

Mr Joyce responded by accusing the Labor party of ignoring agricultural issues, telling Ms Plibersek “they seem to be invisible to you,” apart from a plan to override state governments that fail to stop vegetation clearing.

“It’s going to absolutely excite people all over our nation to think they will have federal tree police all over our places to go with the state ones,” he said. “That’s a great policy, Tanya.”

The pair also debated whether the government would proceed with, or delay, a so-called backpacker tax that has outraged farmers who utilise their services for manual labour.

The move would see backpackers taxed at a rate of 32.5 per cent on all earnings from July 1, rather than when they earn above the current threshold of $18,200.

“They always say you have to ask three times,” he interrupted. “Tanya, what is your position?”

“Thank you for clearly announcing your position Tanya, whatever it was,” he retorted. “It looks like your position on the backpacker tax is the same as your position on boat people – you haven’t got a clue.”